Antarctica may not be as isolated as we thought, and that's a worry
May 27, 2016 06:19 am UTC| Insights & Views Nature
For a long time, we have thought of Antarctica as isolated from the rest of the world. The continent is entirely surrounded by the Southern Ocean, which heaves with giant waves whipped up by intense winds, and is home to...
El Niño is over, but has left its mark across the world
May 25, 2016 23:57 pm UTC| Insights & Views Nature
The 2015-16 El Niño has likely reached its end. Tropical Pacific Ocean temperatures, trade winds, cloud and pressure patterns have all dropped back to near normal, although clearly the events impacts around the...
Why we need better ways to cut greenhouse gases from agriculture
May 24, 2016 05:08 am UTC| Insights & Views Nature
Although 177 countries signed the Paris Agreement to reduce global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in April 2016, the reductions they have pledged so far are not enough. To stand a chance of limiting warming to 2 degrees...
Why has climate change disappeared from the Australian election radar?
May 23, 2016 09:33 am UTC| Insights & Views Politics
Two weeks into a protracted election campaign, it is looking ever-more likely that climate change is to be placed way down the order of business at least for the major parties. The contest over climate change that...
The paradox of peak-based ozone air pollution standards
May 20, 2016 10:10 am UTC| Insights & Views Nature
And when she was good, she was very, very good, But when she was bad she was horrid. Henry Wadsworth Longfellows poem may have befit Houstons air around 1999, when the city briefly ranked as the New U.S. Smog...
Want to know if the Paris climate deal is working? University divestment is the litmus test
May 20, 2016 05:44 am UTC| Insights & Views Nature Business
The Paris climate agreement has been praised for sending a strong signal to the world that we are now serious about cutting greenhouse emissions. Yet despite the diplomatic acclaim, the Paris deal doesnt offer much in...
How rapid urbanisation is changing the profile of wildlife in cities
May 20, 2016 05:00 am UTC| Insights & Views Nature
Globally, more people live in urban areas than in rural ones. Africa and Asia are urbanising faster than any other regions in the world. By 2050, 66% of the worlds population is projected to be urban. For example, Nigeria...
Johannesburg in a time of darkness: Ivan Vladislavić’s new memoir reminds us of the city’s fragility
Why Germany ditched nuclear before coal – and why it won’t go back
Labour can afford to be far more ambitious with its economic policies – voters are on board
Sudan: civil war stretches into a second year with no end in sight